Cylinder door band lock



Nova 14 1950 F. VETORINO CYLINDER DOOR BAND LQCK Q6 IZ FIG-I Filed Aug. 5, 1.946

:HIIII i INVENTOR FRANK VETORINO 4, W 51% r fl ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,529,643 CYLINDER noon BAND LOCK Application August 3, 1946, Serial No. 688,205

Claims.

The invention relates to apparatus for clamping and locking closed the doors of the work receiving cylindrical drums of washing machines, drying tumblers or like machines used in the laundry and dry cleaning industries.

In one common form of machines of this class, the work is held within a cylindrical drum having a charging opening in its cylindrical wall, the door for which slides in curved guides along the side edges of the opening. Some sort of lock is required to lock or hold the door closed, and usually clamping bands or straps are provided, effective upon the side edges of the door for clamping the door firmly and securely to the drum, thus avoiding chatter, vibration and wear, and preventing the work from being pinched beneath the door edges and thus possibly injured.

One object of the invention is to generally improve prior constructions for the purpose and to provide an extremely simple construction in which movement of the door itself toward closed position tightens the clamping bands, with such effect supplemented, where necessary or desirable, by the effect of the locking mechanism.

Another object is to provide improved mechanism of the character described in which a locking bolt, carried by the door, is effective, not only to lock the door, but also to complete the last stages of its movement to fully closed position, and the clamping effect is produced entirely by door movement.

Further objects of the invention in part are obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a washing machine drum or cylinder, with the door in closed, locked position;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of one end of the cylinder;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view, on a larger scale, of one corner of the closed and locked door, parts being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 44, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5, Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation, on a larger scale, on the line 6-6, Fig. 2, but showing the door open;

Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation on the line 'l-l, Fig. 3; and

Fig. 8 is a similar section, but showing the door partly open.

The invention may be used in any machine including a rotatable work containing cylinder or drum provided with a sliding door, such as a drying tumbler or a washing machine used in laundries or dry cleaning plants. For convenience, and in no sense of limitation, the invention has been shown applied to a washing machine.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 5, l0 indicates generally a washing machine drum consisting of two circular end heads ll supporting a cylindrical wall l2. The drum heads are provided, centrally, with shaft or trunnion members I3, by means of which it is supported for rotation about its central longitudinal axis. Since the machine shown is a washing machine the cylindrical wall I2 is made of plate metal provided with perforations In for the circulation or flow of the cleaning liquid therethrough. The charging opening in the cylindrical wall of the drum, through which work is introduced into and removed from Frank A. Gerlach and John Bohlander.

its chamber, is closed by a sliding door I 5, usually also made of perforated plate metal. A lateral door guide I6 is usually provided along each of the side edges of the door opening, and the door plate extends beyond the guide, as shown in Fig. 5, lying above a guide strip or track member l1, welded or otherwise solidly secured to the wall I2.

Near its lower edge the door is provided with two locking bolts l8, movable inwardly and outwardly, horizontally, one at each end of the door. These bolts, and their operating mechanism, generally speaking, may be of any suitable or conventional form, such as shown for example in Patent No. 1,964,114, granted June 26, 1934, to As shown, the bolts are biased to outward, or looking position, by compression springs 19 and are connected by links 20 to an operating member 2| actuated by a handle 22 which, in locked position of the door, lies within a recess or cavity beneath the exposed surface of the door plate. The outer ends of the bolts, in the present construction, are tapered or beveled on their front and rear surfaces, as shown at 23, two bevels being provided on opposite faces to enable the bolt to be turned over tosupply a new working face, when one thereof becomes worn. At two points along the side edges of the door opening, one near the lower edge of the opening and another further back, the track member H is provided with a keeper 24 to receive the locking end of the bolt, the rear face 25 of the recess 25 of said keeper being beveled to correspond with the bevel of the bolt, as shown in Fig. 3. The lower keepers are used to lock the door in closed position and the upper keepers to lock it in open position, during loading and unloading of the drum.

As before stated the side edges of the door travel above and along the track member l1. They also lie beneath clamping bands 21, which are narrow strips of heavy sheet metal and which serve, when the door is closed, to clamp its side edges to the track member I! and thus prevent chatter and jar and possible pinching or wear of work between the door and drum. Each clamping band 21, at its rear end, is provided with an elongated opening 28 through which a clamping bolt 29 may be screwed into the track member I! there firmly securing the rear end of the clamping band in place. An adjusting screw 36 is mounted in a projection 3| at the rear end of the band, by means of which the band may be adjusted longitudinally to any desired position in which full clamping effect is secured when the door reaches home position, as will later appear.

The front end of each clamping band is provided with a thickened portion 32 (Fig. l) having an elongated slot 33 through which extends the shank of a bolt 34. This is not a clamipng bolt, but a simple guide to confine the front end of each clamping band, but yet permit it to have longitudinal or fore and aft motion. The thickened portion 32 of each band provides a shoulder or abutment 35 adapted for engagement with the lower or front edge of the sliding door, as shown in Fig. 7.

With this arrangement, assuming the door open and held open by engagement of its bolts in the upper keepers, when a load of work has been introduced into the drum, the handle 2 is actuated to withdraw the bolts from the upper keepers. Then the door is moved down toward closed position. This is a heavy door, requiring a little effort to start it. But when its closing motion is started it moves toward closed position with considerable momentum. As it reaches closed position the ends of its front edge engage the abutments 35 of the two clamping bands, and move those bands forwardly or downwardly, or in the direction in which the door is moving, thus tightening the bands and firmly clamping the door to the tracks on which it travels. Usually the momentum of the door itself is suificient to produce a satisfactory clamping effect. However, when door movement stops, the lock operating handle 22 is released, whereupon springs l9 advance the locking bolts into locking posi tion. The beveled rear surfaces of the bolts, as they enter the keeper recess 26 engage the beveled faces of the keeper recesses, thus exerting an additional tendency to further move the door forwardly or in the door closing direction, thus increasing the clamping effect.

Usually, when the door is open, the clamping band lies in loose contact with the guide l? or may even bulge slightly away from the guide, as shown in Fig. 8. Adjusting screws 3% may be manipulated to vary the position of the clamping bands, so that as the bands are being applied, the slots 33 lie in such position as to permit full band movement from the position shown in Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. '7, thus securing maximum clamping effect.

As before stated the clamping effect is produced entirely by door motion, or in other words, the door itself actuates the clamping bands. However, locking bolts, carried by the door itself, are also utilized to produce a clamping effect, in

4 addition to their ordinary function of locking the door.

The construction is quite simple, but yet is efficient and satisfactory and will operate as intended over long periods of time without requiring attention. But if wear occurs, as upon the ends of the locking bolts, the bolts readily may be turned over to present new surfaces to the keeper members.

Further advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a work holding drum having a cylindrical wall provided with a charging opening, a door for said opening slidable circumferentially of the drum, and a clamping band mounted on the drum and extending over a side edge of the door, said door and band being provided with cooperating engaging abutment members, the band member of which lies in the path ofclosing movement of the door member, whereby during the final stage of travel of the door to doorclosed position the said door member engages and advances the band member and thus clamps the band tightly upon the door.

2. In combination, a work holding drum having a cylindrical wall provided with a charging opening, a door for said opening slidably circumferentially of the drum, a clamping band mounted on the drum and extending over a side edge of the door, said door and band being provided with cooperating interengaging abutment members so located and arranged that during final stage of door closing movement the door abutment member engages the band abutment member and thereby tightens the clamping band upon the door, and interengaging door locking parts on the door and drum including beveled surfaces so arranged that advance of the locking parts to locking position completes door closing movement and thereby produces maximum clamping effect of said band upon the door.

3. In combination, a work holding drum having a cylindrical wall provided with a charging opening, a door for said opening slidable circumferentially of the drum, and a clamping band mounted on the drum and extending over a side edge of the door, said band having one end fixed to the drum and the other end freely movable longitudinally of the band, and being provided near its freely movable end with an abutment located in the path of movement of a part of the door when it closes, whereby closing door movement applies the band to the door and clamps it firmly to the drum.

4. In combination, a work holding drumhaving a cylindrical wall provided with a charging opening, a door for said opening slidable circumferentially of the drum, a clamping band mounted on the drum and extending over a side edge of the door, said band having one end fixed to the drum and the other end freely movable longitudinally of the band, and being provided near its freely movable end with an abutment located in the path of movement of a part of the door when it closes, whereby closing door movement applies the band to the door and clamps it firmly to the drum, a beveled locking bolt mounted upon the door, and a keeper therefor mounted upon the drum in such position that advance of the bolt to locking position completes door closing movement and also produces maximum clamping effect of said band.

5. In combination, a work holding drum having a cylindrical wall provided with a charging ment and actuates the clamping device to clamp the door in closed position.

FRANK VETORINO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 19 Number Name Date 2,082,921 Vetorino June 8, 1937 2,120,167 Waream June 7, 1938 2,455,132 Matthews et a1 Nov. 30, 1948 

